For the last year Critical Measures has been extremely active in the California jam band circuit. Originally a trio the band has grown to upwards of 7 players at any given time. The music is a blend of original jazz laced grooves with traditional NOLA inspired funk. CM loves to mix in covers as well from artists such as Herbie Hancock, The Meters, James Brown and more. The bands main line up consists of guitarist Todd Bugbee, drummer Sean England and recent addition on bass Ryan Newman (Groundation, Motherbug, Cannonball). Critical Measures has been a favorite project for Humboldt musicians Chris Noonan on sax and Brian Swislow on keyboards (Moo-Got-2, Lowdown) who try to play with CM whenever possible. Trumpet guru Cayce Carnahan (Juke Joint), a long time friend and collaborator, has been a regular in the CM lineup as well. The group’s main focus is not to complicate things beyond a point of enjoyment for audience.

"Critical Measures plays an exhilarating blend of world party music infused with a one-two punch of vivacious modern jazz and scorching blues. The group starts off with a tight 4/4 beat, a sultry riff, and a bouncy bass groove and then proceeds to steer their funkadelic starship into warp drive, nimbly traversing across galaxies of highly danceable and head-nodding goodness."
- Allen Amundsen, Eureka Times-Standard (Jun 04, 2009)
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